Talk:The Bridge on the River Kwai

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Contents 1 Commander 2 Kwai March 3 Azon? 4 What was the river's name? 5 POV? 6 Final Words 7 Racism in the movie?

[edit] Commander

Looks like an inaccuracy in the entry: "Shears refuses, but then Warden drops a bombshell: the real Commander Shears was killed some years back". Actually if I recall the movie it is Shears that first admits his ruse to Warden (though Warden already knew). Shears first reveals how he took the real Commanders identity intitially in order to secrure better treatment for himself as a POW. He tells Warden the truth in hopes that it will him [Shear] from being recruited for the mission and having to go back going back.

[edit] Kwai March

The web page says the march is sometimes called the River Kwai March.

I thought there was a River Kwai March, which is the march with a new counter melody added, ie the two aren't the same thing.

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As I've since found out - they AREN'T the same thing. The march in the film is an arrangement of Colonel Bogey written by Sir Malcolm Sargeant, and does indeed have a new counter-melody.

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The Wikipedia article on the Conel Bogey March says the following:

Arnold also wrote a march of his own for use in this movie, which is called "The River Kwai March". This piece has nothing to do with the Rickett/Alford march, but, due to the fame of the film, many people now incorrectly refer to the "Colonel Bogey March" as "The River Kwai March".

Btwied 22:51, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Azon?

The "Historical accuracy" section says that the bridge was destroyed with an AZON bomb, but the "AZON" article disagrees, indicating that it was destroyed with four conventional bombs by an AZON team. Which is correct?

[edit] What was the river's name?

The river is called "Mae" in the beginning of the article, but is referred to as "Kwae" in the Death Railroad article which links to this article. Which one is correct?

The article says that the bridge is on the Mae Klong and not the Kwai, since the name of river changes at the confluence of the Kwai Noi and the Kwai Yai. But this map shows that the bridge is upstream from the confluence, and thus that the "River Kwai" location is correct. Adam 10:02, 11 July 2005 (UTC)

The bridges were built over what was then called the Mae Klong, upstream of the confluence with the Kwai Noi. This part of the Mae Klong was renamed the Kwai Yai river in 1960. Below the confluence the combined river is still called the Mae Klong. JMcC 15:41, 27 September 2005 (UTC)

Agree with that

I have read that the 1960 name change came about as a result of tourists requesting - after seeing the movie, no doubt - to see the "Bridge on the River Kwai". Never underestimate Thai business acumen. Johnmc 07:47, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] POV?

On the other hand, taking into account the past and present day situation of many who ignore the Geneva conventions[...]

Isn't the paragraph that starts with the sentence quoted above opinative rather than descriptive? It feels out of place in the body of this article, independent of the fact that we may agree with it.--81.42.165.32 00:11, 15 September 2005 (UTC)

The film added David Lean's jaundiced view of the Army...

The use of the adjective jaundiced is not appropriate, I think.

[edit] Final Words

What's with the 'final words' at the bottom of the article? Is this accurate? I doubt it.

If you mean the 'Last Line', I've no idea what that's meant to be about. I deleted it as apparent vandalism. Mark Grant 23:35, 26 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Racism in the movie?

First I'd like to say that I think the Japanese army in the movie is depicted in a convincing way. What is more, Major Saito / Nicholson are shown to be very similar, they're sometimes both near insanity- thats the best theme in the movie. I quite liked the movie! But on the other hand... The movie is clearly on the side of the British army.

1) The Japanese army is shown as to be completely incapable of designing/constructing a bridge. By contrast, in reality they were very good at it and the allies underestimated their capabilities to a great extent. The idea of bringing "civilized techniqes" to the asian "japs" is a main theme of the movie and is not questioned at all. That is pure racism.

2) Furthermore, one central topic of the movie is the moral victory of the British battalion over the Japanese guards. Apart from that this seems to be a little bit unrealistic, it is very simple-minded. The moral victory lacks any ambiguity and just appeals to prejudices of moral superiority of the West over Asia.

--Jajaklar82 16:55, 21 January 2007 (UTC)

I've read several accounts of the Thai-Burma railway, and I don't think I've ever heard The Bridge on the River Kwai being referred to in a favourable light. I do recall reading that majority of Japanese criticism concerns the portrayal of Japanese engineers as being incompetent, which ties in with your first point. It's probably why I've never actually seen the movie, and am not really inclined to, as I'm more interested in actual - rather than dramatized - accounts of the railway. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Johnmc (talk • contribs) 12:33, 22 January 2007 (UTC).